Cocky or Confident

Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between these two opposite characteristics;

one is a positive trait, the other not so much so.

Nate has a good job; is upward bound career-wise; has a great family with a wonderful wife and very good children.

Sometimes he seems COCky, but then, maybe he is just CONfident in his abilities.

He has a lot of ability, so why shouldn't he express those?

In college there was a girl who seemed cocky, but she confided in me that she really suffered greatly from feelings of insecurity.  Perhaps her supposed-cockiness was just her way of compensating for her feelings of inadequacy.  So maybe cockiness is just really a shield.

I admire confident people who trust in their abilities.

I love to meet confident CHILDREN.

I also admire people who are humble.

My oldest grandson is very competent, yet he's also very humble.  He's quite remarkable because he is very talented, intelligent, yet humble about his accomplishments.  He has the perfect blend of confidence infused with humility....a great combination.

Can a person be confident without being cocky?

Of course they can.

But, most people aren't - those people are very rare.